The long term goal of this research is to develop an efficient method to authenticate rodent cell lines. Misidentification as well as inter- and intra-species cross contamination of cell lines is widespread and has a substantial negative impact on biomedical research. The use of short tandem repeat (STR) analysis has been shown to be an effective means of authenticating human cell lines, STR genetic profiles have been established for a large number of human cell lines, and much of this data is publicly accessible in the ATCC STR Profile Database. Equivalent resources do not currently exist for authentication of rodent cell lines. In order to fill this gap, the specific aims of this application are to develop a multiplex microsatellite marker-based test to generate unique genetic profiles for mouse and rat cell lines and to build a database of these profiles to use for rodent cell line authentication. By developing these resources, it will be possible to provide a cost-effective and accurate method for rodent cell line authentication for the research community. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The use of cell lines is a cornerstone of basic biomedical research and the ability to ensure the authenticity of the cell lines is critical to ensuring the integrity and validity of the research results that guide scientific advances affecting public health. Establishing a method for generating unique genetic profiles for rodent cell lines provides a quick, sensitive, and accurate means to verify the authenticity of those cell lines being used in research laboratories.